GI-Bill Buddy
| 🎓 | |
| Era | The Fifties |
|---|---|
| Age | 24-29 |
| Home | Dayton, OH |
| Demographic | young veteran, white, working-up |
| Lean | Swing voter |
| Race | white |
Buddy is a Pacific War veteran studying engineering in Dayton, Ohio, on the GI Bill. He represents the swing vote of the decade, an ex-serviceman who voted for Truman in 1948 and for Eisenhower in 1952, and who can be moved again.
Who they stand for
Sixteen million Americans served in the Second World War. By 1956, nearly eight million of them had used the GI Bill to pay for college or job training, and millions more had bought a house with a VA-backed loan. Veterans are the largest new group in the electorate, and they have no fixed party allegiance. Their main institutions are the American Legion, which had drafted the original GI Bill, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The Legion is also the loudest civilian voice for anti-Communism and for the government's loyalty programmes. Veterans voted for Truman in 1948 and for Eisenhower, then a general, in 1952, after Eisenhower promised to end the war in Korea. Korea was their grievance. It had recalled military reservists to service, extended the draft in 1951, and ended without a clear victory. Black veterans served alongside white veterans but were often refused the same benefits at their local VA office. A veteran in 1950 has seen President Truman order the desegregation of the armed forces and is still deciding what he thinks about it.
Playing to them
Buddy responds well to respect for military service, shown through veterans' benefits paid promptly, a properly run VA, the Legion treated as a partner, and the uniform never spoken of lightly. He wants the war in Korea ended on terms he can call honourable, and he does not want the military reserves called up again. A President who sounds eager for war loses his support, and so does a President who sounds ashamed of the last one. He is anti-Communist without needing a spectacle, so Senator McCarthy alone neither wins nor loses his support, though a loyalty purge reaching men who served does. He will not forgive red tape at the VA, a cut to veterans' benefits, or contempt for the patriotism of an ordinary serviceman.
A President who ends the Korean War through a truce loses the support of Air Base Andy and Minute Women Vivian. A President who spends heavily on veterans' benefits loses the support of Farm Wife Edna and Old Country Olga. Civil rights measures that win the support of Delta Pearl and South Side Marcus make Buddy waver, because he accepts Black veterans as fellow servicemen but resists broader civil rights.
Where they live
The five states where GI-Bill Buddy makes up the largest share of the electorate in the fifties:
- Utah
- Idaho
- Vermont
- Wyoming
- North Dakota